So I’ve got this amazing idea you guys. I’m going to play a video game through to completion on YouTube! This is a totally unique idea that no one’s done before but I think it’s going to be huge! So huge that it’s going to make me a ton of money and I won’t need to bother trying to keep finding a job!

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OK, now that I’ve given you all a laugh (but probably not), I’d like to introduce you to my new YouTube series, Retro Flashback Plays. Oh geez, another friggin’ Let’s Play? I know I know but hear me out!

Since I started Retro Flashback, I’ve been trying to come up with a way to cover games that either are slow burns (like RPGs among others) or which for whatever reason, aren’t conducive to the 20ish minute format of a normal episode. These are important games that should be talked about but that I just can’t do justice to in a short amount of time. Beyond that, there are some bigger retro titles that I love and want to be able to show people or which I’ve never played before but always wanted to get to.

This is what Retro Flashback Plays is going to be about. Yes, it’s definitely a Let’s Play but it’s going to focus only on older titles and ones that I’ve either never played but have been told I should or that I have played but want to play again and share the virtues of. A lot of these will be games that are historically lesser known but I also have some large gaps in my retro literacy that would make many people gasp. I’ve always intended to fill in those gaps and I figured a great way to do that is with my audience. I’m hoping this makes the idea stand out from the crowd a bit. I’ve been planning this for a while now and I’m really excited about it. Given that I’m unemployed right now, it seems a great time to kick it off.

The first game I’m hitting up is the Sega CD version of Snatcher, the only version of this game in English. This is a cyberpunk adventure game that was the second ever title created by Hideo Kojima, famed insane mind behind the Metal Gear series. Metal Gear 1 was in fact his first game that came before this. It was originally released for the PC-8801 and MSX2 but also came to the PC-Engine Super CD-ROM, Sega CD, PlayStation 1 and Sega Saturn between 1988 and 1996. As I understand it, the PC-Engine version is technically the best one but only the Sega CD version got translated into English so that’s what I’m playing. This game was fairly popular in its native Japan but was a colossal flop in North America, selling only a few thousand copies. Despite this, it’s well regarded historically for its weird, uniquely Kojima brand of cyberpunk narrative, storytelling and world. I’ve wanted to play it for years and finally have the chance.

I know almost nothing of the game and prior to recording the first episode, had only seen about half the intro and part of the tutorial area to test my capture setup. This is a completely cold entry for me which I think is going to make it even more interesting to watch. The first episode is a bit long because it doesn’t allow you to save until you finish the tutorial, plus I was learning a bit about how the game’s progression is laid out but future episodes should be closer to an hour.

I hope you all enjoy this and I’m really excited to do more of these with all kinds of different games if it works out well. Please like the videos and subscribe to my channel if you enjoy the series as it helps my channel get noticed by more people. If you have any feedback, please feel free to leave a comment as well. I read them all and have made some big improvements based on feedback from viewers.